THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE
BY BERTHOLT BRECHT TRANSLATED BY TANIA STERN & W.H. AUDEN
STRUGGLE FOR THE VALLEY (THE PROLOGUE) - The end of WWII - A dispute between two communes over who is entitled to the ownership of a plot of farm land that the Nazis have left desolate after they retreated - The two communes are Rosa Luxemburg (fruit growing) and Galinsk (goat farming) - The fruit growers will take better care of the land and are awarded it - The farmers hold a party and singer Arkadi Cheidze sings a ballad about the Chalk Circle - The prologue is a metaphor for the story of Michael, the baby that is abandoned by a wealthy family, and left in the care of a peasant. The baby being the plot of land 2 THE NOBLE CHILD - Its Easter - The singer begins his piece about the Governor Abashvili and his wife Natella - The Fat Prince, Arsen Kazbeki, states that the child is a governor from head-to-toe - Grusha is the maid to Natella and her love interest, Simon Chachava, a soldier - The Fat Prince has initiated a couo detat the Military is taking over - The Governer is beheaded - Simon proposes to Grusha, she accepts, he gives her a cross necklace - Natella is packing for a trip, and is finally escorted away and leaves her baby behind - Grusha is left with the child - The head of the Governer is displayed, Grush heads off to the mountains with the baby after some deliberation FLIGHT TO THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS - Grusha tries to escape to the mountains by pretending to be a noblewoman this fails - She walks but begins to be followed by Ironshirts - Grusha finds a dwelling for Michael to stay in, abandoning him on a doorstep, he is adopted
- She goes to her brother, Lavrentis farm and lies to his wife Aniko saying that the baby is hers and shes on her way to the fathers farm - She gets sick and has to live there for some time - The town talks about Grusha and the baby, and Lavrenti convinves Grusha to marry a dying peasant named Yussup to shut everyone up - There is a funeral/wedding and then Yussup returns to life after finding out that conscription has ended (he was avoiding service) - Grusha and Yussup have the dumbest marriage ever - Simon returns and sees Grusha washing her linens in the river like old times; they joke about her finding a new lover; things get awkward - Simon sees the baby and assumes its Grushas - Ironshirts carry the baby in and ask Grusha if she is the mother, to which she agrees, and Simon leaves - Natella has come back in to the picture and wants her baby back - Grusha is summoned to court THE STORY OF THE JUDGE - Azdak is the judge, introduced as a new protagonist - He gives shelter to a peasant man, who ends up being the Grand Duke - The Fat Prince enters and wants to make the new judge his nephew? - Azdak suggests a mock trial - THIS IS CONFUSING THE CHALK CIRCLE - Back in Grushas world - She is in court with a cook and Simon who will swear to be the baby-daddy - Natella has two lawyers who constantly reassure her that things will be fine - Azdak is beaten by Ironshirts - The Grand Duke has reappointed Azdak as the judge? - An old married couple enter who want a divorce; Azdak will set this case aside until he deals with Grusha vs. Natella - The prosecution contstantly bribes Azdak - Natella needs the child because her husbands money and estate are tied to his heir, so she cant do anything without the baby - Grusha states that she has raised him entirely - Azdak is confused so decides to test the two
- A chalk circle is drawn and the baby is placed in the middle - The true mother will be able to pull the child from the centre - If they both pull the baby will tear in two and each get half - Grusha tries but cannot pull hard enough because she is afraid of hurting the baby, they try again - Azdak declares that Grusha is the true mother because she cant hurt the child - Azdak processes the old couples divorce, but actually divorces Yussup and Grusha instead - Simon and Grusha and Michael become a family
